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Chemiluminescence as a product of sulfide oxidation in seawater David W. Tapley* Dept. of Biology, Salem State College, 352 Lafayette St., Salem, MA 01970, USA      *(dtapley@salem.mass.edu) In the presence of molecular oxygen, hydrogen sulfide oxidizes spontaneously, with the production of oxygen- and sulfur-centered free radicals as well as hydrogen peroxide. Chemiluminescence arising from such intermediates often accompanies their generation. When sulfide oxidizes in seawater, weak chemiluminescence is revealed by both photon counting and photometry. The chemiluminescence depends on iron availability; the rate of its production decreases significantly in the presence of EDTA and is eliminated entirely in the presence of DTPA, a chelator that more efficiently coordinates the d-orbitals of iron. Deep-sea hydrothermal vent plumes emit light at visible wavelengths via a mechanism that is not definitively known, although thermal black-body radiation is a proposed source on the basis of theoretical calculations. However, the vent plumes contain millimolar concentrations of sulfide and are actively entraining and mixing with ambient oxygenated water. Significant sulfide oxidation must be occurring in the plumes, particularly at their edges, and the chemiluminescence associated with sulfide oxidation may be the primary mechanism by which vent plumes emit light at visible wavelengths. [Talk: tapley.davidw.13531]

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